The use of tinted, or colored, contact lenses to alter or enhance the natural color of the iris is well known. In manufacturing conventional tinted lenses, it is known to use either or both translucent and opaque colors in one or more layers of color with the object of creating a natural appearing tinted iris. Typically, the color layers are each applied at a single thickness. This provides color variation only with the use of multiple color layers or points at which a translucent color layer overlaps another color layer. However, the natural iris is composed of a large number of different colors and color combinations intermixed to create color variations. The relatively small number of colors and color layers that may be used in producing tinted contact lenses limits the designer's ability to create a natural appearing lens.
Additionally, conventional tinted lenses are disadvantageous in that they lack the three-dimensional appearance of the natural iris. This results in a flat, unnatural appearance when the lens is worn on-eye.